Buzz Trexler

I first read “In His Steps,” by Charles M. Sheldon, in the late 1980s.

My Pa’s mother, Momma T., had it on her shelf, but the inscription indicates it actually belonged to his sister, Emily. Since I expressed an interest in reading it, it was placed in my hands.

In the Sheldon tradition, it has no copyright; however, the author’s introduction indicates it is a 1935 edition. Based upon a series of sermons by Sheldon, the book was originally penned in 1896 and the author notes that, “Owing to the fact that no one had an (sic) legal ownership in the book, sixteen different publishers in America and fifty in Europe and Australia put out the book in various editions from an English penny to eight shillings. “Mr. Bowden, the London publisher, sold over 3,000,000 copies of the penny edition on the streets of London.”

In the early 1990s, the once public domain book and the “WWJD?” acronym for “What Would Jesus Do?” became a Christian subculture pop craze. I always felt a little funny about that, and I’m fairly certain if he had seen some of the applications Sheldon would have rolled over in his grave.

Today, my somewhat inherited copy of “In His Steps” — with its brittle, yellowed pages — has a high place of honor in my bookcase. The reason: It greatly influenced how I attempt to practice journalism today. One of Sheldon’s central figures was a newspaper editor, who stopped to ask himself “What would Jesus do?” before printing any story or advertisement. While I confess to falling short of asking that question on every story, I do seek to use faith-based wisdom and compassion in conjunction with news judgment when plying my trade.

Christians struggle in every vocation, but journalism offers some unique struggles for people of faith — not the least of which is a feeling that we sometimes peddle gossip for a living. That feeling serves as a reminder to me that the calling is much higher, the responsibilities great, and the opportunity to impact your community in a positive way even greater. In the Christian vernacular, it can be “Kingdom work,” which is not to be confused with proselytizing for the faith.

Kingdom work is looking for places where the community — particularly, but not solely, the community of faith — is letting down its responsibility to care for the widow and orphan, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, and to ensure that ‘justice rolls down like a mighty river.’ Once identified, it can spawn a news story that sometimes results in positive changes within the community.

Few people know that Sheldon was actually invited to edit The Topeka Daily Capital newspaper as he believed Jesus would for one week beginning March 13, 1900. Heather Hooper, writing for The (Topeka) Capitol-Journal in a Sheldon centennial section published in 2000, notes, “At that time, the Capital’s average weekly circulation rate was around 11,200, and 12,300 on Sundays. During Sheldon week, the number skyrocketed to an average daily circulation of 362,684, with more than 2.1 million copies printed all together, according to an article published March 25, 1900, in the Capital.”

The March 13, 1900, New York Times carried a story headlined, “The Rev. C.M. Sheldon’s Newspaper Experiment.” The lead paragraph, datelined Topeka, Kan., read, “The main purpose of the paper will be to influence its readers to seek first the Kingdom of God.”

Not sure how well I do that sometimes; however, like the Apostle Paul, I try to run the good race.